Police investigate bank robbery, suspicious devices in Wellesley

Friday

Mar 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 27, 2009 at 5:40 PM

A robbery at a Wellesley Hills bank and the discovery of a suspicious device outside a nearby Star Market Thursday may or may not be related, police said. The events immediately prompted comparisons to similar events in the past week in Holbrook and Needham.

Elana Zak/GateHouse News Service

A robbery at a Wellesley Hills bank and the discovery of a suspicious device outside a nearby Star Market Thursday may or may not be related, police said.

The events immediately prompted comparisons to similar events in the past week in Holbrook and Needham.

Police aren't ready to say the two Wellesley incidents are connected.

"Until the investigation is complete, we won't be able to determine whether they are in fact related or not," Sgt. Marie Cleary told reporters at a press conference.

At about 3:45 p.m., police got a 911 hang-up call from Star Market at 448 Washington St. When officers arrived, they spotted what they later described as "a suspicious device" on the outside of a pay phone. About 70 people were evacuated from the store and the neighboring Rite Aid as soon as the device was discovered.

About 15 minutes later, police received reports of a robbery at Bank of America, roughly half a mile away at 342 Washington St.

Surveillance video from the bank shows a suspect in a black ski mask pointing a handgun.

Another device was put down on the bank counter, and the suspect left the bank and got in a car parked at the back of the bank, Cleary said. Police do not know if the suspect had an accomplice or in which direction the car went.

The suspect is described at 5 feet, 9 inches tall. He wore dark clothing and a mask.

Police provided no further information about the robber, the car or the amount of money taken, if any.

Part of Washington Street (Rte. 16) was shut down, and officers used yellow tape to cordon off the area. Police evacuated buildings, and members of the state police bomb squad arrived.

A little after 6:30 p.m., police detonated at least one of the devices. Onlookers could hear at least three explosions and police saying, "Fire in the hole."

It was unclear if the detonations were at the bank or the supermarket.

On March 20, an elementary school in Holbrook received a bomb threat, which police said was meant to be a distraction from an armed robbery at a bank two miles away.

On March 23, a suspicious device was found in Needham.

"We are aware that similar types of incidents have occurred in those towns, so we will speak with those police departments to see if there are any similarities," Cleary told reporters.

As the bomb squad used robots to inspect the bank and supermarket, crowds gathered outside Bank of America. Many onlookers did not know what had happened and were asking others for information.

"I was riding (my bicycle) home and I just saw a few policemen pop up and then block off this area," said Thomas Siderwicz, 13, who was standing outside the post office on Washington Street. "I asked the policeman what's going on, and he told me to get away from the area."

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